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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Mayawati government on a petition alleging construction of unauthorised structures at the sprawling 195-acre jail campus in Lucknow.
A Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and A R Dave directed the state government to reply within two weeks.
Photographs show many structures. It looks like a dam site. Why are you wasting so much of cement and steel if they are meant only for a boundary wall? asked Justice Sathasivam.
The petition was filed by Lucknow resident Sangam Lal Pandey,who showed the court photographs of the alleged construction.
The Bench was not convinced by the arguments of senior counsel Krishnan Venugopal,who said the government was constructing boundary walls and public utilities for an eco-park. Venugopal is representing the state government.
We are not able to accept it that it is a boundary wall,you have to explain the present position. The way in which material is dumped shows that they are constructing a huge structure. You cannot bypass our order, the Bench said.
Pandey accused the Mayawati government of violating the apex courts earlier orders on September 8,2009 and November 6,2009,restraining it from constructing any monuments or memorials at the place.
